The young woman on the other end of the phone had no idea how much her two simple words meant to me, but I knew. I actually said to her, "Thank you. Thank you. It's okay."
I had just experienced back-to-back encounters in which my trying to do the "right" thing ended up being a frustrating thing. I buy really good (ie. holistic and as chemical free as possible and thus expensive) food for my cats. The store at which I buy it has a monthly discount day. I rushed over on what I thought was the correct Wednesday only to find I was a week late. I had waited for this specific day and even penciled in (yes, I still use a pencil) a time between clients to weave my way through the new Nashville traffic to get discounted food. I was angry at myself and unfortunately the person assisting me could only say, "It was last Wednesday. It's always been this way. Don't you want to be on our email list? It's always the second Wednesday."
I realized driving home that I actually became irritated with the salesperson because she seemed stuck on repeating "It was last Wednesday."
That same week, I went to the pharmacy to ensure they had a particular drug in stock that I was going to need for a heavy metals test. The drug was unusual so I thought it wise to stop in and inquire before my doctor faxed the prescription. To my surprise, they had the drug I needed. The following week as my doctor prepared the prescription, I even called to ensure they still had it. (I've never done something like that.)
You can imagine my surprise to walk in and find the faxed prescription was on the head pharmacist's desk where it had spent the day because he didn't know what it was....and he hadn't asked his associate (with whom I had twice spoken). I had given them all day to fill the prescription and now had fifteen minutes which was not enough time for the medication to be compounded.
I became impatient in this situation as well and explained that I had ensured not once but twice that they had the drug. Now I had to leave without the drug and postpone the test until the following week. I became irritated with the pharmacist who I've known for years and drove home realizing I just needed to hear two simple words from both he and the salesperson in the pet store.
"I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry that happened."
"I'm sorry you came on the wrong day."
"I'm sorry I didn't think to ask my colleague what DMSA is."
For me, as a feeler, just a simple, "I'm sorry" would do.
So when I get a call from the doctor's office reminding me of my appointment for the following week which I had already cancelled and said I would reschedule, I thought, 'Here we go again.'
I called the doctor's scheduler to remind her that I had cancelled and she had already called me back. That's when I heard "I'm sorry." I could tell from the tone of her voice that she wasn't just pacifying me. She truly was acknowledging her mistake.
I in turn said two words of equal significance in today's world. I sincerely replied, "Thank you."
The words we use and the tone with which we convey them is important even with simple statements like "I'm sorry" and "Thank you."
Imagine the shift in your personal life and thus our world if we each took the time to say "I'm sorry" when we or another has erred or "Thank you" to convey our appreciation.
Inside I smiled. Life provided a healing do-over.
-Dawn, The Good News Muse, 24 Sept. 2015
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